The Heart Wants
by MidnightIndigo
Summary: Castle has a Valentine's surprise for Beckett-and it's not exactly what you would think.  Disregards The Final Nail.


**A/N: A little Castle Valentine's Day story, with a twist. Love me, hate me, but I hope your Valentine's was amazing! This disregards The Final Nail. Enjoy. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.**

"Any big plans tonight, Detective?"

Beckett jumped. He'd been so quiet for the past half an hour as she studied the murder board that she'd forgotten he was even still there. Which, now that she thought about it, was weird in itself and should've called her attention earlier. She glanced sideways at Castle, leaning against the desk beside her, staring at the board. He didn't seem to notice her look.

"No, why?"

"Because it's Valentine's Day."

The words stung. Josh wasn't coming home from his mission in Africa until the weekend, and being so busy and out of contact, he probably didn't even realize what day it was. Not that it would matter, anyways; the one phone in the village in which he was working charged a lot of money to use for global calls, and the doctors in the program weren't supposed to carry much money on them.

"Josh is still in Africa," she said simply. "What are you doing?"

"Well, Alexis is going out with Ashley, but my mother isn't doing anything, so I'm cooking for her. Unless she decides that she's okay enough to go out—she's still deciding. You know, because of Chet."

"Ah," Beckett nodded. "What if she decides to go out?"

"Then I'll probably stay home. Hey—wanna come over?"

She smiled quickly. "I don't know, Castle. I'm probably going to stick around for a while, work on this case."

"You'll never get anything done if you do that," he informed her. "You'll burn yourself out. It's better if you leave and rest, then come back in the morning with fresh eyes." He looked at her hopefully. "Please? I have a surprise for you. It'll be worth it, I promise."

"Oh, fine," she said, rolling her eyes. "You just really want me to have dinner with you, don't you?"

"Do you love Josh?"

She looked at him, startled. "Sorry?"

"Do you love him?" He watched her face solemnly. She tried to tell if he was playing with her, and eventually decided he was serious. It threw her off guard, like he always did when he suddenly lost the playful nature she was so used to. It was always refreshing to see these times. She considered the question.

"I guess, I mean, I haven't really thought about it too much."

"Oh, really?" He snorted. "It is Valentine's Day, and you tell me you've never thought about whether or not you love your boyfriend?"

"Maybe it's personal," she snapped defensively.

"Maybe you're scared," he countered.

They glared at each other for a moment, before he dropped his eyes, losing the staring contest, and deflated.

"Sorry," he muttered. "That was uncalled for."

She could've left it at that, accepted his apology and kept her heart to herself. She could've left him wondering because she could and he wouldn't press her on something so serious. She could've done a lot of things in that moment that would've saved her, but for some reason, she said, "I don't know if I love him—not yet, anyways. I might, eventually. But I like him. A lot." She smiled, almost to herself. "Josh is great."

He smiled back. It was small, but it was there. "I'm glad."

He went back to examining their murder board. She raised an eyebrow, almost surprised that he hadn't cracked a joke, but watching him she realized he really had changed in the past two years.

She laid her hand on his lightly and rubbed the back of it. He grasped her fingers gently. She met his eyes and grinned.

The sun had already gone down and they'd turned the lights on much earlier when Beckett finally sighed and stood up. Castle had sat beside her for hours as she examined the board, sometimes standing to write a note or shift a piece of evidence held by a magnet clip. She brought her coffee cup, now empty, to the sink in the break room, before she grabbed her coat and purse. Castle had already gathered her things and was ready to go. "Shall we?" he asked, offering his elbow.

She rolled her eyes but linked her arm in his. "Sure." Neither had wanted to bother with driving through the snow that morning, so they'd used alternative means of transportation to reach the precinct. They walked into the slushy streets, wrapping their scarves and coats tightly around themselves. If she hadn't been wondering so much what his surprise was, Beckett probably would've realized that she was a lot warmer holding onto him than she had been walking out of the subway station. His apartment was much closer than hers, however, and he'd walked (for a reason: he'd picked up coffee, which Ryan and Esposito had promptly stolen) so they walked out onto the sidewalk, a slightly awkward silence descending upon them.

"So are you going to tell me what the surprise is?" she asked finally.

"Well then it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?" he grinned.

She rolled her eyes at him. "You know I hate surprises."

"That's too bad, because you'll have to wait this one out."

She fumed silently as they entered the lobby of the apartment and took the elevator upstairs.

They got out on his floor, and Castle dropped her arm to fumble with his keys. He unlocked the door but held it shut for a moment while he turned back to tell her, "Wait here."

"Castle-" she called snappishly, but he'd already slipped inside and locked it. She waited there for quite a bit before she heard a click and the door began to open. "Jeez, that took long enou-"

But the dark hair and light brown eyes she knew so well didn't belong to her partner. Her heart caught in her throat as she stared into his tanned face, meeting his gaze.

"Hey, Kate," Josh smiled.

"Josh," she whispered. "What are you doing here?"

"Castle got me an early flight back—luckily, too, my original flight was supposed to stop in Cairo for a few days."

She stepped closer, unsure whether her eyes were playing tricks on her. "But...how? I don't understand-"

He reached out to take her hand and pulled her closer to him, hugging her for a minute. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek on his chest, his chin on her head. It was surreal, when she hadn't felt him in a month and a half, hadn't gotten one of his spectacular hugs. She didn't know how long she'd be with him, but he was hugging her right now and that was what was important.

"I missed you," she exhaled into his shirt.

"I missed you too," he replied. She felt him breathe deeply, heard his heart beating in her ear. She was fairly tall, but Josh was one of the few people where she actually felt like she could wear heels and not have to slouch. She realized with a jolt that she could do that with Castle too—just as Castle peeked out of his door, grinning.

"Happy Valentine's Day, you two," he said.

She smiled back at him. "Thanks, Castle."

"No problem." He watched as they disappeared down the hallway, Josh's arm around her shoulder. He chuckled slightly to himself. As much as he _wasn't jealous_, they were really cute together. He ducked back inside.

"Well, my good deed for the day is done," he informed his mother, who was watching Casablanca on the couch with a glass of wine.

"I'm glad. That was a nice thing you did for them," she replied, sipping the drink. Castle sat beside her and realized, from the smell of it, that the glass contained a bit more than just wine. He didn't comment, instead shaking his head and leaning back into the cushions. Martha studied him for a moment. "It's hard, isn't it?"

"What?"

"Seeing her with someone else."

He shrugged. "A little bit. But she's happy. If she's happy, I'm happy."

Martha raised her glass to that. "The heart wants what the heart wants," she said philosophically.

"How many glasses have you had, Mother?" Castle asked suspiciously.

She shook her head at him. "Don't ruin _my _happiness, my boy. Just let me enjoy this."

He snorted, smiling, before he put his arm around his mother and settled in to watch the movie with her. It might have been an unconventional Valentine's celebration, but it was fine. Because she was right. And he was happy with that, for now.

But when the time came, he'd still be there for Beckett, no matter who she was with now.

_Happy Valentine's Day._

**A/N: Hope you liked it! I don't know how I can possibly call myself a Caskett shipper, honestly. I'm weird. xD**

**Happy Belated Valentine's Day, everybody!**


End file.
